Laura Keener
Editor
Notre Dame Sister Cormarie Rebhan patiently encouraged the young children to “pick a winner” as they fastidiously maneuvered fishing nets around the festival’s Duck Pond to snare a rubber a duck in exchange for a prize. Joan Lecoy, parishioner, Sts. Boniface and James Parish, Ludlow, and volunteer at the festival also working the Duck Pond, leaned over and whispered, “they’re all winners.”
The Sisters of Notre Dame, Covington, held its final Fourth of July Festival this year, ending a 103-year tradition. The festival began in 1922 as a way for local parishioners to help support the Sisters and to fund the building and maintenance of St. Joseph Heights convent, Park Hills.
At that time the St. Joseph Heights Home Association, affectionately known by the Sisters as “The Old Faithful Club” and led by John F. Cook, Grand Knight of the Price Hill Council of the Knights of Columbus, organized the first Fourth of July Festival. For 103 years the Club has helped the Sisters of Notre Dame organize the Fourth of July Festival, which has become a way for the entire community to not only financially support the Sisters but also to come together in joy and gratitude.
“Today we dress in red, white and blue and are graced with patriotic fun and genuine friendship in the SND style,” wrote Notre Dame Sister Mary Dennise Wagenlander, Festival Chair, in the “103 4th of July Festival: Fun for the Whole Family” program distributed at the event. “We treasure you, our faithful supporters and partners, in doing the mission of Jesus. We are grateful for the many ways you contribute to help us fund-raise and friend-raise.”
Walter Witt, parishioner, St. Agnes Parish, Ft. Wright, is one of the many volunteers who, out of love and respect for the Sisters, has been working the festivals. Mr. Witt will celebrate his 90th birthday next month, and the Sisters of Notre Dame have been a part of his life since he was a student at Sacred Heart School, Bellevue. He is grateful to the Sisters of Notre Dame for their dedication to Catholic education, not only his own but also that of his five children and the thousands of children throughout the Diocese of Covington over the last 151 years, beginning with Mother of God School, Covington in 1874.
“The Sisters, they have staffed I don’t know how many schools right in this area. Ever since they came here from Germany the sisters have, you know, given a lot to the community,” said Mr. Witt.
Mr. Witt said he began volunteering at the festival 50-plus years ago. His daughter, Margaret, a second grader at St. Agnes School, raised her hand when Sister Paulita asked for volunteers to help the festival. Since then, the Witt family has been a mainstay at the festival, beginning with the Grocery Booth and moving up to the Major Raffle booth for the last 25 years.
“They’ve (the Sisters of Notre Dame) been part of my life, you know, in my younger days of formation, and you appreciate these things,” said Mr. Witt. “If you can say ‘thank you’ by giving them some service when they need some helpers, I was honored to do it.”
The Fourth of July Festival is ending the way it began, being connected to the rise and fall of the St. Joseph Heights building. For over 100 years, St. Joseph Heights has been home to the Sisters of Notre Dame. With the number of Sisters decreasing, so did the need for the large historic building. The Sisters conducted studies to find ways to repurpose the building, but none proved feasible. Days after the final Fourth of July festival, O’Rourke Demolition Company began razing the building, July 7.
The Sisters of Notre Dame plan to continue its mission and ministries in Northern Kentucky by repurposing the property to address the many needs of senior adults, including recreation, education, housing, inter-generational opportunities and meeting space for Park Hills seniors. This work will continue as St. Charles Community, a senior living community founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame, assumes the property.
“The ministry and mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame will be continued from the Dixie Highway to the expressway. That whole the property can then house the mission and ministry,” said Notre Dame Sister Shauna Bankemper.
By the end of October 2024, all of the Sisters had moved from the Heights building. Of the 68 Sisters of Notre Dame living in Kentucky, 38 are living at St. Charles Community. The other 30 Sisters are living and ministering in the Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati area.
“The Sisters might not be living there, but our mission is continuing through St. Charles and Notre Dame Academy,” said Sister Shauna. “The building isn’t the legacy. Our legacy is the people. You are our legacy. Where you go, our mission and ministry goes forward. You carry it forward,” she said about the all the students taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame and at Notre Dame Academy and all of the people whose lives have been touched by the Sisters.
Considering the immense influence of the Sisters of Notre Dame, through the grace of God and his Divine Providence, like the children at the Duck Pond, all the people in Northern Kentucky are winners.
As Sisters of Notre Dame celebrate final 4th of July festival, legacy continues in the people
/in Featured StoriesLaura Keener
Editor
Notre Dame Sister Cormarie Rebhan patiently encouraged the young children to “pick a winner” as they fastidiously maneuvered fishing nets around the festival’s Duck Pond to snare a rubber a duck in exchange for a prize. Joan Lecoy, parishioner, Sts. Boniface and James Parish, Ludlow, and volunteer at the festival also working the Duck Pond, leaned over and whispered, “they’re all winners.”
The Sisters of Notre Dame, Covington, held its final Fourth of July Festival this year, ending a 103-year tradition. The festival began in 1922 as a way for local parishioners to help support the Sisters and to fund the building and maintenance of St. Joseph Heights convent, Park Hills.
At that time the St. Joseph Heights Home Association, affectionately known by the Sisters as “The Old Faithful Club” and led by John F. Cook, Grand Knight of the Price Hill Council of the Knights of Columbus, organized the first Fourth of July Festival. For 103 years the Club has helped the Sisters of Notre Dame organize the Fourth of July Festival, which has become a way for the entire community to not only financially support the Sisters but also to come together in joy and gratitude.
“Today we dress in red, white and blue and are graced with patriotic fun and genuine friendship in the SND style,” wrote Notre Dame Sister Mary Dennise Wagenlander, Festival Chair, in the “103 4th of July Festival: Fun for the Whole Family” program distributed at the event. “We treasure you, our faithful supporters and partners, in doing the mission of Jesus. We are grateful for the many ways you contribute to help us fund-raise and friend-raise.”
Walter Witt, parishioner, St. Agnes Parish, Ft. Wright, is one of the many volunteers who, out of love and respect for the Sisters, has been working the festivals. Mr. Witt will celebrate his 90th birthday next month, and the Sisters of Notre Dame have been a part of his life since he was a student at Sacred Heart School, Bellevue. He is grateful to the Sisters of Notre Dame for their dedication to Catholic education, not only his own but also that of his five children and the thousands of children throughout the Diocese of Covington over the last 151 years, beginning with Mother of God School, Covington in 1874.
“The Sisters, they have staffed I don’t know how many schools right in this area. Ever since they came here from Germany the sisters have, you know, given a lot to the community,” said Mr. Witt.
Mr. Witt said he began volunteering at the festival 50-plus years ago. His daughter, Margaret, a second grader at St. Agnes School, raised her hand when Sister Paulita asked for volunteers to help the festival. Since then, the Witt family has been a mainstay at the festival, beginning with the Grocery Booth and moving up to the Major Raffle booth for the last 25 years.
“They’ve (the Sisters of Notre Dame) been part of my life, you know, in my younger days of formation, and you appreciate these things,” said Mr. Witt. “If you can say ‘thank you’ by giving them some service when they need some helpers, I was honored to do it.”
The Fourth of July Festival is ending the way it began, being connected to the rise and fall of the St. Joseph Heights building. For over 100 years, St. Joseph Heights has been home to the Sisters of Notre Dame. With the number of Sisters decreasing, so did the need for the large historic building. The Sisters conducted studies to find ways to repurpose the building, but none proved feasible. Days after the final Fourth of July festival, O’Rourke Demolition Company began razing the building, July 7.
The Sisters of Notre Dame plan to continue its mission and ministries in Northern Kentucky by repurposing the property to address the many needs of senior adults, including recreation, education, housing, inter-generational opportunities and meeting space for Park Hills seniors. This work will continue as St. Charles Community, a senior living community founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame, assumes the property.
“The ministry and mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame will be continued from the Dixie Highway to the expressway. That whole the property can then house the mission and ministry,” said Notre Dame Sister Shauna Bankemper.
By the end of October 2024, all of the Sisters had moved from the Heights building. Of the 68 Sisters of Notre Dame living in Kentucky, 38 are living at St. Charles Community. The other 30 Sisters are living and ministering in the Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati area.
“The Sisters might not be living there, but our mission is continuing through St. Charles and Notre Dame Academy,” said Sister Shauna. “The building isn’t the legacy. Our legacy is the people. You are our legacy. Where you go, our mission and ministry goes forward. You carry it forward,” she said about the all the students taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame and at Notre Dame Academy and all of the people whose lives have been touched by the Sisters.
Considering the immense influence of the Sisters of Notre Dame, through the grace of God and his Divine Providence, like the children at the Duck Pond, all the people in Northern Kentucky are winners.
Middle School Science Teacher – St. Cecilia
/in Job Postings, Teacher OpeningsSt. Cecilia Catholic School in Independence, KY is seeking a middle school science teacher. St. Cecilia Catholic School is a growing school with a solid middle school team. The ideal candidate is certified in science or has a strong science background with an interest in teaching. Interested candidates should send a resume and references to info@stcindependence.org
Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Go and Glorify
/in Go and GlorifyFather Joshua Whitfield
Contributor
The readings for the fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time — Cycle C — are: Deuteronomy 30:10–14, Colossians 1:15–20 and Luke 10:25–37.
“In the face of so much pain and suffering, our only course is to imitate the Good Samaritan,” Pope Francis wrote just a few years back. These words, found in “Fratelli Tutti,” remain true and urgent as ever. They are moral words I’ll never forget.
He was talking about how in our connected world, a world of global communication and commerce — our world of purchasable splendor and the supply chains that support them, often labor exploitation too; also our online world of information and misinformation, love and hate — we mustn’t lose sight of the humanity comprising our connectedness nor the moral responsibility we must own for one another both locally and globally, in person and even on social media.
We must not, Pope Francis said, elegantly shift our gaze from the poor and the exploited, crushed underneath either inhuman economic systems or nature-denying ideologies, simply because if we honestly accounted for the marginalized or, for example, the unborn, it would disturb us, disturb our pretty world, showing us that we are not as moral as we like to think we are.
No, Pope Francis said, we must see these brothers and sisters, all of them — Todos! We must not turn our gaze away from such people even if seeing them makes us uncomfortable or calls into question our conventional morality or is bad for profits.
That’s what I think Pope Francis meant by saying our only moral option is to imitate the Good Samaritan. He was, of course, simply iterating New Testament truth, the truth that faith without works is dead and that a person who claims to love God while hating neighbor is a liar (Jas 2:17; 1 Jn 4:20).
The point is we can boast all we want about our achievements and our knowledge, our success or our theology, but if none of it compels us to care for others, it’s basically a lie, rubbish, no good at all. We must see others, even those we may not want to see, if we are to see God; that’s the point.
Which is the first lesson of the parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke’s Gospel. The lawyer’s correct theology did not by itself matter. The challenge was whether he wanted to live out the orthodox theology he proudly professed. “You have answered right; do this, and you will live,” Jesus said to him (Lk 10:28). These are some of the most challenging words Jesus ever said to anyone, words not simply of truth but words also of action.
But again, the demand is that we followers of Jesus are the kind of people who can see. We must be able to see the suffering, the poor, the vulnerable, our fellow human beings. But not just see, we must also see with compassion.
For the story is clear: the priest and the Levite did in fact see the man on the side of road, beaten and half dead, it’s just they saw him without compassion. They saw him and “passed by on the other side.” The Samaritan, on the other hand, “came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion” (Lk 10:32-33). Then the Good Samaritan served him, caring for him at his own expense; his seeing, his compassion and his charity materially benefitted a man who was to him a stranger, whom he made his neighbor by the practice of tangible charity.
Which I guess is the point, that this sort of real love and real mercy should shine like the sun on everyone, like God’s love and mercy does — shining through believers who dare to love beyond boundaries and beyond fear. Or at least that’s the idea.
Which is the unsettling question. In your life as a Christian is love simply an idea? As a Catholic, are you merely sentimental? Is there no morality, no ethics, attending your belief or your devotion? Do you not serve others or care for the poor at all? Are you proud of your Catholic belief, your grasp of theology, but never, say, volunteer? Have you never thought about either the positive or negative effects of your participation in the economy? Have you never wondered who makes all those affordable things you buy, never wondered about their wellbeing?
You understand what I’m getting at? There are plenty of people suffering on the many sides of the many roads of today’s world, but do we see them? And further, do we care? If we are Catholics, we must care. That’s why Pope Francis insisted we imitate the Good Samaritan. He was saying nothing different than what Jesus said to that lawyer. “Go and do likewise,” Jesus said to him. Those words are meant for us too. But will we listen?
Father Joshua J. Whitfield is pastor of St. Rita Catholic Community in Dallas, Texas. His column has been provided by OSV News.
Education & Formation Coordinator – St. Vincent de Paul
/in Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Job PostingsSt. Vincent de Paul – Cincinnati is seeking an organized and creative Catholic individual with a passion for helping others grow in their faith and incorporating Catholic Social Teaching into their daily lives as our new Education and Formation Coordinator. The Coordinator will help lead the development and presentation of high-quality presentations, workshops, retreats, and major annual events throughout the year. The Coordinator supports our community of parish-based Vincentian members, our network of volunteers, the District Council support staff, and community partners in their search to learn more as they grow in our essential elements of faith, fellowship, and service within the wider Cincinnati area. This role is an in-person role featuring occasional evening/weekend hours and travel as necessary for the program. For more information or to apply, please click here.
Physical Education Teacher – St. Joseph School, Cold Spring
/in Job Postings, Teacher OpeningsSt. Joseph School in Cold Spring is seeking a full-time Physical Education teacher to join our team for the 2025–2026 school year. Interested candidates should send a resume and references to Meghan Whelan at mwhelan@stjoeschool.net
Preschool Teaching Assistant (Part-Time) – St. Catherine of Siena
/in Job Postings, School Related OpeningsSt. Catherine of Siena Catholic School is seeking a part time preschool teaching assistant for three mornings per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from 7:15-12:15. The pay is $15.00 per hour. If interested, please email Mike Jacks at mjacks@stcky.org to set up an interview.
Custodian – St. Therese Parish
/in Job Postings, Parish Openings, School Related OpeningsSt. Therese Church and School located in Southgate; KY is seeking a full-time Custodian/Maintenance Person. We are looking for a motivated self-starter who possesses practical custodian and mechanical skills. This position will be responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the school and church. Knowledge and experience of cleaning and sanitizing are essential to this position. The ideal person will maintain clean restrooms, classrooms, floors, and empty trash cans when needed. Also important is a basic, elementary knowledge of plumbing, electrical, carpentry, painting, and mechanical maintenance. This job will also be responsible for the upkeep of the grounds around the church and school by coordinating with our lawn and snow removal service. The custodian will order and maintain janitorial supplies and paper products for daily operations. Compensation is based on experience. A Part -Time position will also be considered. Interested applicants can contact Fr. Michael Grady at gradym@sainttherese.ws
Music Teacher (Part-Time) and/or Art Teacher (Part-Time) – St. Philip
/in Job Postings, Teacher OpeningsWe are seeking teachers with experience in Music Education or Art Education (or related field), experience working with elementary-aged children, creative, patient, and energetic individuals who love helping kids explore their talents, and strong classroom management and communication skills. Responsibilities include developing and delivering engaging lessons aligned with curriculum standards, fostering creativity, expression, and a love for the arts, and organizing school performances, art displays, and other creative events.
Send your resume and references to: Jennifer Twehues at jtwehues@stphilipky.org
Childcare Staff position (Part-time) – Julie Learning Center
/in Job Postings, School Related OpeningsJulie Learning Center is in need of a part-time childcare staff member for the 2025/2026 school year: Monday through Friday from 12:30 until 5:30. This position will involve assisting the teachers and children with the normal routine and require a minimum of a high school diploma. Interested applicants should contact the director at directorjlc2014@gmail.com for consideration and further information. Paid training is provided.
Preschool Aftercare Teacher (Part-time) – Saint Mary School – 2025-2026
/in Job Postings, School Related OpeningsSaint Mary School, a blue ribbon school in Alexandria, KY, is seeking a part-time (M-F 1:30-6:00) Preschool Aftercare Teacher for the 2025-2026 school year. The ideal candidate will have a high school diploma, be over 18 years of age, and have a minimum of 1 year working with children. Job responsibilities include working under the supervision of the directors and lead teachers to create a fun environment with engaging after-school activities, age-appropriate school concepts, positively encouraging children as they develop their fine motor, gross motor, language development, and social/ emotional skills, complying with state regulations, completing 15 training hours per school year, being Virtus trained and compliant, preparing lessons and daily classroom activities. Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, résumé, and references to Preschool Director Megan Franzen at megan.franzen@saintmaryparish.com